


All you had to do (go on and kiss the girl)

by those_who_run_with_wolves



Series: Rare pairs [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky needs a hug, F/M, I have a girl crush on Simmons, Rare Pairings, spoilers for Agents of SHIELD season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-20
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 09:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2646719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/those_who_run_with_wolves/pseuds/those_who_run_with_wolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky has admired Jemma since Coulson introduced his team to the Avengers. He's always been attracted to mouthy brunettes but he feels that he's just not good for her.<br/>How can a broken former Soviet spy be with an English rose?<br/>But circumstances and Hydra push them together...<br/>AU takes place after Winter Soldier movie and S1 of Agents of SHIELD</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Bucky sighed as he watched her again.

Jemma and her small team were at the tower having lunch at one of the many Stark designed cafeterias. 

He watched and envied the ease of her friends. He envied Fitz who got to touch Jemma's arm as he spoke. They were so comfortable with each other.

Coulson's team had survived a traitor in their midsts and they had survived the fall of the Triskelion. Fitz and Simmons had escaped certain death at the hands of Grant Ward.

Bucky couldn't help it when his metal arm tightened on his fork and it bent easily.

"You should talk to her already," Darcy broke into his thoughts sharply.

She sat next to Sam Wilson. Falcon and the mouthy intern turned assistant had hit it off when Steve had brought Sam and Bucky with him back to the tower.

Tony couldn't turn Captain America away after the fall of SHIELD, even if he did come with a former assassin.

Sam had a hand around Darcy's shoulder as he ate one handed. 

Bucky wished that he could have that happiness with a dame one day but he just wasn't destined for such things, he thought bitterly.

"Who?" Steve asked. Punk was too nosy for his own good. 

"None of your business," Bucky smirked. "You're like a bunch of old gossiping ladies." He tried to take their focus of Jemma.

"He's doing that thing again," Sam told Steve, ignoring Bucky. "He's brooding."

Steve looked around the busy room. He made it seem almost casual but Bucky knew that his best friend was using his military training to assess the room.

Bucky sighed heavily again. He propped his head on a hand and let his long hair cascade over his face. He didn't feel like being noticed right then.

"Coulsons team is here," Steve looked appraisingly at his old friend.

"How's the chicken Darcy?" Bucky tried again.

"Its organic, farm grown chicken. Its Stark. The chicken is great like everything else on the menu," Darcy snarked. She stared him down. "She's pretty."

"Yeah, she is." He couldn't help the blush that warmed his cheeks so he ducked his head even lower.

"You're sweet on someone Buck?" Steve perked up. 

Steve kept trying to fix him but when was everyone going to give up on him? They couldn't fix someone who had been repeatedly broken and then put back together. Hydra had taken all the memories and they had kept a shell of the man he had once been.

But Steve kept at it. He kept up the encouragment and he just kept trying to fix everything for Bucky. Steve wanted his best friend back, whole and happy and that was never going to happen.

Bucky bit the inside of his mouth. He wanted to erase the sadness from Steve's eyes. He wanted to make the little guy smile again. Like he used to do, the memories were coming back slowly.

But the memories of Brooklyn, flashes of ma and Becca, the Howling Commandos, all these things were coming back.

And Bucky didn't know what to do with it because with the memories came nightmares of the people he had killed. It came with panic attacks and endless nights of silence. He sat alone in his bed with his past sins weighing him down like an anchor. He could never shed enough angry tears for what he had lost.

"No, Steve." He said finally.

Steve's mouth thinned out and his eyes darkened with pain.

Bucky felt like a monster for making Steve feel that way and look like that. Like Bucky had told him that there was no chance for happiness.

But he said nothing. Because in his dark desolate world, no one would love him.

Bucky Barnes was too broken to be loved.

He snuck one last look at her, Jemma would never have to fear him.

Darcy shared a look with Sam but she went back to her food.


	2. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for some violence. Its HYDRA after all.

The tower was under attack.

Former SHIELD agents and Avengers fought together in the halls and in the offices against HYDRA henchmen.

Bucky stood with Sam and Steve. They hadn't even been prepared. They had been training and there was no time to get suited up. They fought in sweat pants and t-shirts.

Steve had his shield at least. He stood, hair mussed and sweaty but he still called out orders like the professional that he was.

Sam used his hand to hand combat training to fight off the bad guys that Bucky was disarming as he cut a swathe through them.

His arm was his weapon. He didn't need anything else. He ducked attacks seamlessly. His face was grim as the old instincts took over. Winter Soldier was there but Bucky had control. 

"If I could interrupt," JARVIS cut into their comms that they had jammed into their ears as soon as the attack started. 

"What is it JARVIS?" Steve managed to sound calm as he punched a HYDRA agent.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take..." 

Bucky hit the guy against the wall before he could finish that sentence and the goon flopped onto the floor unconcious.

"Someone is attempting to take my systems offline, Captain." The AI's tone was warbled.

"Do you know what they want?" Natasha asked. "What are they after?" 

She kicked one of the intruders easily in the head. Her slender leg lashed out so fast that Bucky almost missed it.

"They are trying to access the Stark R and D main..." JARVIS was being hacked but the AI was trying to feed them information as best as he could. "Sir has left. He is fighting them off in the Ironman suit. Agent Simmons is ..."

Bucky felt as if he was back in the chair. Panic stirred in his gut and ice ran down his spine. He was running for the stairs already.

"Bucky!" He heard Steve call after him but he waved a hand over his shoulder.

"I got this punk," Bucky was still in control. Nothing would stand in his way. He would save Jemma.

Steve, Sam and Natasha remained behind, all of them fighting. They were surrounded. This had been the distraction. To keep them all busy while the brains of the operation hacked JARVIS and got into Tony's lab.

Bucky took the stairs a few at a time. He wasn't risking getting stuck in the elevators. 

HYDRA must be accessing their video feeds and if the Winter Soldier was trapped inside an enclosed space then they would do their best to stop him and recapture him.

His hair brushed against his face, clung to his skin but he went up floors without missing a breath.

His heavy steps made a loud sound through the stairwells. The sounds echoed back at him as he sprinted.

He finally got to the floor of R and D. Stark's lab.

He saw that the lights were already flickering.

"JARVIS?" He whispered, his voice too loud in the stillness. 

He was scared of what he would find. Jemma left in a pool of blood or worse, taken to be used for some HYDRA plot. She had brains and they always went after the brightest and the best.

JARVIS didn't answer back. His display was off on the glass wall of the entrance to the lab.

"Get in!" Jemma whispered hurriedly. She appeared from under a table and she pulled at his hand.

Bucky breathed out a sigh of intense relief. "You're ok?" 

Jemma said nothing. She bit down on her lip as she worked on the panel in the wall. "I need to shut the doors. The tech that they want is here. They tried to hack their way in. Its always about the tech. If you build it, they will come. As Tony likes to joke." Her fingers flew frantically over a computer keyboard that she had managed to connect to the panels wires. 

"You're keeping them out," he realized, smiling proudly at her. The dame had looks and she had brains. 

"Yes," she muttered, clearly trying to work fast. The glass doors locked behind them. 

"Got it," she smiled brightly and she almost slumped with relief against him. 

"I'll keep you safe until help arrives Jemma," he promised.

They sat under a table in the dark. The floor was cold and the lab was silent. Bucky had to hunch himself down to fit in the small enclosed space.

She sat almost on his lap. "You called me Jemma."

He blushed, her smile just took his breath away. When Jemma smiled, it took over her face, enchanting all her features so that she shone with happiness. It warmed him up. 

"Yeah, well that's your name?" He replied.

"Everyone calls me Simmons," she went on, talking too fast. "Or FitzSimmons, if Fitzy is with me." Her eyes met his. "No one here or at SHIELD, or what remains of it," she waved a hand around for effect. "They just don't call me Jemma anymore."

He stared at her overwhelmed by the chatter. 

"You're Bucky Barnes," she said, her eyes roving over his face.

"You can call me James," he replied. He smiled at her, pulling out the old, patented Bucky moves. "If I get to be the only one around here who calls you Jemma."

She blushed prettily, her long eye lashes kissing her high cheekbones. "I'd like that." She smiled at him crookedly. "James."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading.  
> Thanks to everyone who leaves kudos or comments.


	3. chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stress, anxiety. Its HYDRA

Footsteps sounded on the tiled floor outside the locked doors.

"Ok, Jemma." Bucky clasped her small hands between his much larger ones. "You need to be really quiet now. We just have to be still long enough for them to pass us by or until the others get here. I can't fight them all off, not without keeping you safe."

Her eyes went wide and her breathing went haywire. "I'll be quiet, James." Her pupils were blown wide from sheer terror.

The steps came closer, low voices travelling through the glass. They sounded like they were almost at their hiding space.

The HYDRA agents tried breaking the glass. They shot at the glass repeatedly.

Bucky kept his eyes on her. "The glass won't break."

"I know that," she stammered. 

"Steve will be here soon. With Sam and Natasha," Bucky reassured her.

"Steve," she nodded. "Captain America. He'll come." 

  

Her pulse was racing under his fingers. "We're fine. Right, Jemma?"

"I'm sorry James," tears spilled over her cheeks. "But I'm not brave. I'm just a girl who knows too much." She was trembling. "Its too much like being in the pod. Closed off, in the dark."

Bucky's fingers tightened around her hands. He hadn't known about this.

"Ward pushed us out, into the water." Jemma's voice was semi-hysterical now. "We had no air and Fitzy." Her shoulders shook. "Fitz died and I had to bring him back."

"I'm sorry Jemma," Bucky wanted to take her pain away. He knew about being closed off, in small spaces.

"I'm the one who should be apologizing," she smiled sadly through her tears. "I'm ridiculous."

Bucky knew how it felt. To keep on apologizing to everyone for being sad and lost in the dark. "There's nothing wrong with you."

Her tears stilled and she looked at him in rapt fascination. As if she was looking for answers only he could give her.

"I happen to think that you're beautiful," he leaned in and he kissed her soft, full lips.

He lost himself in the taste of her, salty sweet in her tears and her smile.

Her hands went up and gripped his hair.

It was his turn to shudder as her nails ran over his scalp. 

Bucky sucked a raspy breath into his lungs and tugged her closer. He put all his months of longing into that kiss.

She sighed into his mouth, relaxing against him.

They were so lost in each other and their little dark corner, that they didn't hear Steve and Sam enter the lab.

It took a lot of Steve banging his fists against the glass door until they looked up.

Jemma shyly woke up, with Bucky helping her. She kept her head lowered as she quickly opened the door for them.

Bucky felt relieved to see Steve, who was grinning so wide at them.

"Good for you Bucky," Sam clasped his shoulder. "You finally kissed the girl."

Jemma giggled against his chest and Bucky kissed her head as he still held her close to his chest. He wasn't going to let go of this happiness.

Because Jemma was worth fighting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> Thank you for taking the time to leave kudos or post comments.

**Author's Note:**

> I watch Agents of Shield soley for my Fitzsimmons fix. I love those two. They are the only reason that I stick with the show.
> 
> Thanks for reading.


End file.
